One babystep at a Time
by Omega19x
Summary: Things in the shadow realm are as real as they appear, a lesson Yami Bakura must now cope with. 2nd place, Bakura Disability Challenge COMPLETE.
1. I woke up in the Shadow Realm

Insert Standard Disclaimer here:I do not own any part of Yu-Gi-Oh, but if I am now the proud owner of a millennium ring. Which means some part of Yu-Gi-Oh may now own me...

:-:-:-:

"He won't come out…" Ryou sighed, sitting across from Yami Yugi. He had invited the pharaoh over to his apartment after a long series of failed confrontations with his yami.

The other yami leaned back against Ryou's couch. He watched the white-haired teenager fiddle with his millennium item. The golden spikes swung back and forth with a nervous tension all their own.

Given everything that happened at Duelist Kingdom and just a few weeks ago in Battle City, the pharaoh would have never expected such concern out of Ryou. Always being pushed to the back of his own consciousness, the other yami would have expected Ryou to WANT Bakura to stay inside his own soul room. Unless something had changed…

"Perhaps you'd better start at the beginning, Ryou." Yami Yugi finally spoke.

Ryou nodded, and cleared his throat.

"Well, pharaoh… it started when Marik banished us to the shadow realm…" he spoke softly, choosing his words carefully.

Yami Yugi was aware of the danger that Marik had caused. And he was also aware of how dangerous the shadow realm could be. His own hikari had taken control once in a shadow duel. Indeed, the atmosphere of the shadow realm was almost too much for Yugi's mortal body to handle.

"I could hear Bakura dueling from inside my soul room. And I could feel his thoughts resonating in my head. He wouldn't show it on the outside, but I know he was in a panic…" Ryou sighed. "Something had gone very very wrong. And he knew it too. It wasn't that he was going to loose the duel. He wasn't… isn't… afraid of the shadow realm… It was that… as his body started to fade away. I think he knew that it wasn't just his soul that was being attacked…"

Yami Yugi listened intently, nodding slowly in between Ryou's short phrases.

"And when he lost, we both fell into the darkness…"

The pharaoh remembered his frantic dash onto the top of the blimp, only to discover Marik had already won the dreaded shadow duel. Bakura had been nowhere in sight. And of course, Yami Yugi (and Yugi as well) had feared the worst. At least three days went past before he saw Ryou again, in either body or spirit.

"Our souls separated. He emerged as his spirit self, but I stayed in my human form." Ryou choked as he remembered the darkness that surrounded him. The purple haze, wrapping itself around his human throat, suffocating him as he tried to breathe. The blue mist that stung his eyes, causing tears to swell over his cheeks. The green smoke that tore at his skin, burning him from the inside out. But those were probably sensations that Yugi knew all too well.

"And I saw him, floating above me. He was cocky at first… but that was until he noticed me there. Then he solidified a little."

"What happened, Ryou?" Yami Yugi asked.

"It shocked him for a moment… I tried to stand up. I don't know if there was solid ground there or not… but there was something underneath me… I couldn't… And when I looked up at him… he was concerned…" Ryou smiled. "He was actually concerned."

"Of all people, he should know too well the pressures of the shadow realm." Yami Yugi interrupted. "He banished enough souls there…"

"He knows…" Ryou replied quickly. "And that was probably why he was so concerned."

"Your body…"

"I don't even wan to think about it…" Ryou added. "Each minute felt like an eternity, and as I quickly found out… there are more dangers in the shadow realm than I ever heard about from either your or Bakura's duels…"

For a moment, Yami Yugi was intrigued. He had been in many shadow duels, but he had not actually spent an extended period of time in the shadow realm itself. He had used its immense power, but had never had it seriously inflicted upon him.

"In the shadow realm, spirits are just as real as you are right now…" Ryou elaborated. "And there are monsters too…"

The pharaoh didn't blink.

"Pharaoh, do you know what happens to physical people who are trapped in the shadow realm?" Ryou's gaze turned incredibly stern.

"No, Ryou… I don't."

"They're lucky if the shadows kill them quickly…" Ryou stated matter-of-factly. "The monsters writhe chaotically when they catch the scent of human flesh. And nothing can keep them from devouring it…"


	2. A real Shadow Duel

Yami Yugi froze. Was that true? He watched the light bounce off Ryou's deep brown eyes, and knew it had to be true. But if so, how did Ryou survive three days there?

"Ryou, how did you…" he finally spoke.

"It was because of Bakura…" Ryou sighed, staring at his ring. "He protected me."

"From…"

"From everything."

Ryou massaged the ring as he continued to speak, hoping that his yami could hear him from inside the soul room.

"He bent down beside me, and wrapped his arms around me. At first, I thought he was going to strangle me or break my neck. I thought he was going to attack me for somehow costing him the duel… but he didn't. He just held me. I was so scared, I couldn't move even if my body would have allowed it…"

Yami Yugi leaned back again.

"Breathe slowly' he whispered, very sternly. 'The air is thin, but it won't kill you if you relax…" Ryou repeated what he could remember. "And the pain… just try to ignore it.' He added, knowing that it wouldn't really help anything. But he still wanted to acknowledge it."

Ryou didn't know how long Bakura held him. But eventually, he felt himself being picked up.

"I looked down, and saw that we were floating through the mist. He must have seen me open my eyes… He told me, 'We have to keep moving…' I asked him why. And he answered, 'do you want to die?' It didn't take long to realize that he was running away from something. A lot of somethings, actually…"

The pharaoh wasn't too surprised at Bakura's actions. He knew the tomb robber would obviously be concerned about his host. If Ryou's body were destroyed, he'd have nowhere to go. And he would be trapped in the shadow realm for eternity. But he was still a little surprised about how Ryou was reacting. After all, it wasn't as though the spirit actually cared for him.

"I don't know how long we ran, but eventually, Bakura realized that running was a lost cause…" Ryou sighed. "He was exhausted. And I could hear strange noises all around us… I opened my eyes… and I could see them coming… hundreds, maybe thousands of terrible monsters. Far more frightening than I've ever seen in Bakura's occult deck, and far more psychotic looking than I've ever seen Bakura…"

The description shook Yami Yugi's train of thought off its track.

"They were driven, not by thoughts, but by bloodlust, or so Bakura said… He said they wanted to rip my flesh from my bones, and quite frankly, I somehow suspected that." Ryou continued. "As they came closer, I felt my body slump to the ground. I thought for a minute that it was all over. That I was going to die… that my yami had decided to abandon me there. But then I saw him… He stood over my body. He told me to curl up tightly, to make myself as small as I could… that if they wanted me… they would have to go through him…"

Ryou smiled at that thought. Even though he remembered being so terrified as he was wrapping his arms around his Yami's feet, the thought of Bakura protecting him against such immense odds made him happy.

"He protected me, pharaoh…" Ryou smiled again. "He fought them. One by one. He fought them for what felt like days… and they just kept coming… so many monsters… of all shapes, smells, and sizes… But he kept attacking, even though he was completely exhausted…"

"But that doesn't explain why he won't come out…" Yami Yugi attempted to insert.

"Pharaoh… even my yami can't fight forever…" Ryou sighed. His smiled drooped down his chin. "Eventually, his strength started to waver… and that's when the monsters got the upper hand."

Yami Yugi was silenced again by Ryou's story.

"They just kept attacking. I looked up every now and then, and watched the creatures drive their fangs and claws at my yami. I could feel his blood splatter across my body. And I could feel his legs shaking each time he was struck by another attack. And then… I heard something far worse than the creatures' shrieks." Ryou let his ring fall from his hands. "A terrible cracking noise rang through my head… and the next thing I felt was Bakura's body landing squarely on top of mine."

"What happened?"

"One of the monsters… It sounded like it was actually made of stone… it struck Bakura directly in the back… and it looked like it literally broke him in two…" Ryou fought back tears as he tried to talk to Yami Yugi. "His face was right above mine…I could see the pain in his eyes. And I felt him try to get back up, only to realize that he couldn't…"

The pharaoh, for the first time, felt a wince of concern for Bakura's sake. He knew how real the shadow realm was. The physical toll those attacks took on Bakura must have been great.

"And for the first time… he cried… Pharaoh… he cried…" Ryou gasped. "He didn't know what else to do… All the protection he could muster was to wrap his arms around me, and hold me underneath him. His cheeks were pressed against mine, his chest against my chest… and he cried… he said… 'I'm sorry… I'm sorry for everything, aibou… I'm sorry I couldn't protect you…"

At this point, Ryou couldn't hold his own tears back any longer, and a few escaped down the side of his cheeks. He quickly pushed them away.

The pharaoh was bewildered. Had Bakura really meant that? He found it difficult to believe, but somehow he could vaguely imagine that such a traumatic circumstance could bring out an evil spirit's heart. And Ryou certainly seemed to think that he did.

"He just held me… A few moments later… I found myself awake on Kaiba's blimp."

"That was when I won the duel…" Yami Yugi replied.

"Not a moment too soon…" Ryou nodded, grateful to the pharaoh for that. "A few seconds more, and I probably wouldn't have been worth rescuing. As Bakura said… 'What happens in the shadow realm carries over into this realm…"

"And what happened to Bakura when the duel ended?"

"That's when he sealed himself in his soul room." He sighed again. "The last thing he said to me was 'I'm sorry…' and then he disappeared inside. I've tried to reach him… but I can't… he won't let me inside. And he won't take over my body."

"And that troubles you?"

"Pharaoh… it's just… I'm worried about him… I know I always hated it when he took over. Sometimes I was missing entire weeks in my mental calendar. But… this… this just isn't right… something must really be wrong with Bakura for him to act this way…"

Yami Yugi nodded. Maybe Ryou was right.

"And… that's why I called you over… I don't know what to do… but if anyone could get into his soul room, it's you."

Yami Yugi stood up slowly, and walked over to where Ryou was sitting. He lovingly put his arm around the boy.

"Don't worry, Ryou. Yugi and I will help." He smiled. Ryou was overjoyed. "But we can't do it alone. My millennium puzzle doesn't have the power to enter your mind. But Shadi's millennium key does."

Ryou nodded.

"Meet me at the game shop tomorrow morning. I assure you, he will assist me if I ask him." Yami Yugi hugged Ryou gently. "He can pull you into your mind along with Bakura… and then you can go inside his soul room and find out why he sealed himself there."

"Pull me in there?" Ryou suddenly asked defensively. "I can't go in there!"

"Why not? I thought you were curious about what happened to…"

"I can't! He was upset enough about what happened to me! If he even sees me coming, I don't know what he'll do… What if he never wants to see me again?"

The outburst struck Yami Yugi by surprise. Why should Ryou be so concerned?

"Ryou, he's your yami…"

"What if he hates me? What if he blames me for whatever happened?" Ryou was almost hysterical. "Please, pharaoh! You go in and talk to him! Please?"

"Ryou… The key wasn't meant to work like…"

"Please! I don't care! I don't want to hurt him any more than I already have! It's because of me that those things came after us in the shadow realm. If I weren't there, he wouldn't have been hurt! And then he wouldn't have locked himself in his soul room!" Ryou refused to relent. "Please, pharaoh! He might listen to you!"

Finally, Yami Yugi agreed to go. He could see there was no convincing Ryou, and that something certainly had to be done.

"But Ryou, I'm warning you now. I don't know how long we'll be able to stay inside your mind. And we might not be able to wake you afterwards if something goes wrong…"

"I don't care… I just have to know if he's all right."

"Very well…" Yami Yugi replied. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."


	3. A breach in the tomb robber's soul

The next day arrived quickly for Ryou. He spoke to his yami the entire morning, but had still received no reply. And he wasted absolutely no time in driving to the game shop. When he arrived, Yami Yugi and Shadi were already waiting for him.

"How soon can we begin?" Ryou asked the moment he burst through the door.

"Come upstairs to Yugi's room. You can lay down on his bed." The pharaoh replied. "And we can begin immediately."

He followed Yami Yugi's instructions, and watched Shadi as he took the ankh from around his neck. The strange man, still not having spoke a word, pressed his millennium item against Ryou's forehead. For Ryou, everything suddenly went black.

For Yami Yugi, however, the world around him reconfigured as a thin stone corridor. It was the inside of Ryou's mind.

Much like his own mind, it resembled the inside of an ancient pyramid. But it was much darker. He could hardly see the hand in front of his face. The only light came from a series of torches against the wall. He presumed they were probably of Ryou's creation. The row of fire led to a strange metal door, kept tightly shut.

The pharaoh bent down. Not a single speck of light escaped from underneath the door, and he couldn't see anything. But the chill in the air assured him that this room belonged to Bakura. He took a torch off the wall, and through the power of his millennium puzzle, he pushed the door open.

"Tomb robber?" Yami Yugi shouted into the immense darkness. His words echoed back at him. "Are you in here?"

There was no reply.

"I can feel you in here somewhere, Bakura… where are you?"

Again, all he heard was his own echo.

He moved the torch along the walls. This truly was the inside of a massive tomb. Piles of gold and other treasures lined the floor, no doubt pieces of the thief king's previous life. The air reeked of blood and must.

"Where are you?" Yami Yugi continued to call out. "Are you all right?"

Still no answer.

"Bakura… Ryou is worried about you." The pharaoh attempted to catch the other spirit's attention. "He wants to know why you won't speak to him. Will you at least talk to me?"

Yami Yugi listened. In the distance, he heard the familiar sound of the millennium ring's spikes striking against each other. The item had picked up on his puzzle, and had moved of its own accord. He also heard someone immediately try and muffle it.

"So you are here, tomb robber!" Yami Yugi pointed the torch in the direction of the jangling metal. "Why don't you stop this foolish game and come find me? You obviously know where I am."

"…I can't…" came a raspy voice. It was Bakura at last.

"Yes, you can…" Yami Yugi replied, still walking in the direction of the voice. In the distance, he could just make out the faint outline of a humanoid shadow against a stone staircase. "And you can come out of this dark soul room… Whatever problem you have with Ryou can't continue like this. He's worried about you…"

"No, idiot…" Bakura finally spoke again. "I mean I can't."

The voice was growing louder. Yami Yugi lowered the torch.

There, lying against the side of a staircase, was Bakura. His striped shirt was nothing but strips. His white hair was a tangled mess. His arms were crossed over his waist, but they couldn't hide the fact that his skin was literally covered with scratches and slowly healing wounds. Dried blood was everywhere. It was obvious that he was in pain.

Bakura's eyes followed the pharaoh's movement, but he didn't move. He tried weakly to shuffle his weight with his arms, but that was it.

"Bakura…"

"There… You've seen me…" he answered curtly. "And you can tell Ryou… I won't come out… because I can't."

By this point, Yami Yugi was getting quite annoyed with his nemesis.

"Whatever happened in the shadow realm did nothing to your item's power." The pharaoh rolled his eyes. "You can come and go as you please. Now, I don't like being in here probably just as much as you don't like me being here. But I'm doing this as a favor for your hikari. He's worried to death about you! And I am not going to leave until you stop wallowing in some form of useless self-pity! At least mindlink with him, and we can all go on with our lives!"

Bakura leaned forward, lunging at the pharaoh's neck. He couldn't reach it, and he fell back against the stairs.

"Is that what you think, pharaoh?" Bakura growled. "You want to see what happened to me in the shadow realm! Fine!"

Yami Yugi stood back up. He waited for Bakura to stand, but he didn't move.

"Get out of Ryou's mind and back into the real world. I'll take control of his body." He sneered again. "Then you'll get it through your thick skull why coming out of here would be a waste of everyone's time!"

The pharaoh froze for a moment.

"Well? What are you waiting on? Get out!"

Yami Yugi nodded, and disappeared.


	4. Bakura takes control

He rematerialized next to Shadi. As he left Ryou's mind, the white-haired teen slowly woke up.

"Did you discover anything?" Shadi asked the pharaoh. The other just nodded.

"Ryou." Yami Yugi addressed the hikari. "I talked to Bakura."

"Is he all right? Is he mad at me? Is that why he's staying hidden?" Ryou jumped off the bed, shouting at least ten more questions before Yami Yugi could answer even the first one.

"He doesn't want to leave his soul room, but he agreed to take control of your body for a minute." The pharaoh recounted. "If only to prove to me why he can't come out."

As the pharaoh spoke, Ryou heard the familiar voice of his yami over the mindlink. It made him smile.

'Brace yourself.' He warned. 'I'm taking control.'

The statement struck Ryou by surprise. His yami had never warned him before. He always took what he wanted, usually without a word.

Yami Bakura appeared inside Ryou, and the body just crumpled onto the floor.

"Bakura!" Yami Yugi shouted, grabbing the other yami as he fell. "What happened?"

"Exactly what I've been trying to tell you…Idiot…"

Together, Shadi and the pharaoh lifted Bakura onto Yugi's bed.

"I can't move." He growled. "I can't move my legs at all. They won't work. Not in the shadow realm. Not in my soul room. And not in Ryou's body either!"

Yami Yugi and Shadi exchanged glances.

"I didn't think it was possible…" the pharaoh mused. "The attack in the shadow realm… the creature managed to break your back. You're paralyzed from the waist down."

"Now you see?" Yami Bakura curled his fists in rage. "I won't leave because I can't! I can't do anything! I can't walk, I can't duel, I can't thieve… I can't jump in and out of Ryou's body with any sort of stealth! I can't fight. I can't protect my host. Is this getting through to you yet, pharaoh! Or are you even dumber than you look?"

Neither of the other item holders replied.

"I'm useless to him, pharaoh. Can't you see that? And his body is useless to me!" Bakura tried to find even the slightest bit of understanding in the other yami's violet eyes. "I've failed. I've made my hikari a fucking cripple…"

And with that, he dove back into the sanctuary of his soul room, and closed the door.


	5. The tomb robber's true intentions

Ryou took control of the body again.

"Are you all right?" Yami Yugi quickly asked, helping the boy stand up. Ryou nodded his head.

"Yeah… I can stand…" he replied softly. "My legs feel a little numb, but I can stand…"

He stood silently for a minute, testing his own weight cautiously.

"But it was strange… when my yami was in control, I couldn't feel them at all. He's not lying, pharaoh. He really can't feel my legs."

"I believe you're right…" Yami Yugi finally admitted. "Perhaps he wasn't lying about that part after all…"

Ryou's expression suddenly drooped. It caught the pharaoh's attention.

"He closed off the mindlink again." Ryou sighed. "Did he tell you anything?"

"No. Nothing except what he shouted when he was in control just a few minutes ago… He can't use you to steal the items anymore. That's why he won't come out. He thinks your body is useless…"

"That's not all he said!" Ryou interrupted.

"No, but that's what he meant."

"Hey!" Ryou suddenly grew angry. "I know you don't like my yami, but that's not all he said! I'm not just some kind of tool to him! When we were in the shadow realm, he protected me!"

"He protected you so that he'd have a body to come back to!" Yami Yugi argued.

"He said he was now useless to me too!" Ryou shouted. "Didn't you hear that!"

"He only has one goal, and that's to steal the millennium items!"

"That's not true!" Ryou protested. "He cares about me!"

"Ryou. You're not being rational." Yami Yugi replied quickly. "You know your yami as well as I do…"

"Pharaoh! Didn't you see him? He's paralyzed!" Ryou shouted. His voice filled with a passionate fervor that the others didn't even know he possessed. "He's lived for five thousand years, and suddenly, he can't feel anything from the waist down! Can you even imagine what that must be like? Can you blame him for feeling angry! Feeling frustrated! I'd feel the same way!"

"Ryou."

"I'd be terrified! And after everything that happened in the shadow realm! Even a yami can't heal that quickly. He must still be in a lot of pain! Right?"

"Yes… his spirit body wasn't in the best shape…" Yami Yugi slowly admitted.

"He's probably scared to death in there!" Ryou continued his verbal assault on the pharaoh. He shivered as he thought of his poor yami, alone and scared in his soul room.

"That tomb robber would never admit to being afraid."

"That doesn't mean he can't feel it."

"Ryou, perhaps this is for the best… he can't hurt you or your friends anymore." Yami Yugi attempted to calm the hikari. "Remember everything that he's done. He stops at nothing to get what he wants! You nearly gave your life trying to stop him! Multiple times!"

"I don't care." Ryou shouted. "He told me he was sorry for all that. And he almost died trying to protect me."

"Ryou… listen to me."

"Why should I? You haven't listened to a word I've said…Not yesterday. And not now." Ryou turned his back on the yami. "He's just a tomb robber to you. But to me, he's the other half of my soul! And he's hurt!"

Yami Yugi stared at Ryou for a minute, not really knowing how to respond. He glanced over to Shadi.

"Perhaps the boy is right, pharaoh…"

"Give me the key." Ryou ordered. Shadi didn't move. "I said… Give me the key. I'm going home."

Shadi looked at the pharaoh, and then took the ankh from around his neck.

"What are you doing?" Yami Yugi grabbed Shadi's arm before he could give the millennium key Ryou. "What if this is some kind of trap?"

"I am not a tomb robber, pharaoh…" Ryou muttered under his breath, and took the key right out of Shadi's hands. He stormed out the door, letting it slam behind him on the way out.

"Shadi…"

"Leave him be, pharaoh." The Egyptian man answered. "I trust his intentions…"

"But…"

"Give him some time. He'll be back. One way or another." Shadi drew a deep breath, and sat indian style on Yugi's bed. He closed his eyes, content on waiting there. After a few minutes, Yami Yugi finally shrugged as well, and sat down beside him.


	6. Ryou confronts Bakura

Ryou slammed the door to his apartment with equal rage.

"I should never have gotten the pharaoh involved…" Ryou cried, brushing a few tears out of his eyes. "I'm sorry, yami… I was just trying to help… And… I didn't know how!"

There was, of course, no response from Yami Bakura, but that didn't stop Ryou from talking. He paced across the floor of his living room, with both the key and the ring hanging around his neck.

"I know you really meant what you said in the shadow realm." Ryou sighed. "I don't believe a word that the pharaoh said! Really, I don't! Please, listen to me… I… You're not useless to me, yami…"

He pleaded and pleaded, but the soul room door still remained tightly locked.

"Don't make me come in there!" Ryou finally snapped, sounding a lot like his own mother. "Yami! I've got the millennium key! You can't keep me locked out! I'm giving you fair warning!"

And with that, Ryou plopped down on the couch, taking off the ankh. It felt warm in his hands.

"If you won't come out, then I'm coming in!" he shouted, and pointed the end of the key at his forehead, mimicking what Shadi did earlier. A quick flash of light later, and Ryou's human body was unconscious. His soul materialized inside his mind, just outside of his yami's dark soul room.

The stone walls of his mind sent a shiver down his back. He had seen the inside of his own soul room plenty of times, but it didn't feel quite like this. It was sparse, and looked a bit decrepit, but at least it was sunny and warm. This hallway looked like the inside of a tomb.

He approached his yami's room with a little trepidation. Carefully, he knocked.

"Go away!" he heard Bakura shout from inside.

"It's me." Ryou called out, trying to push the door open. It took a few minutes, but he eventually succeeded. "And I'm not going away!"

The door opened to reveal a vast stretch of darkness.

"Yami?"

"I said, go away!"

"And I said no!" Ryou shouted back. "You need more light in here!"

With his request, it being his mind after all, the soul room quickly lit up. His earlier suspicions were correct. It was the inside of a tomb, complete with various treasures, a sarcophagus, and probably a few curses thrown in just for kicks. Yami Bakura, leaning against the same staircase as before, quickly buried his eyes with his arms. He let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"Don't do that!"

"Sorry…" Ryou whimpered, and the lights dimmed a bit. He was still completely visible, but at least the light wasn't as harsh. Yami Bakura slowly uncovered his eyes.

"I blocked you out!" Yami Bakura growled. "Why are you here!"

Ryou answered by holding up the millennium key. Yami Bakura's jaw dropped.

"How did you get that!"

"I took it." He quickly answered, and dropped down to Bakura's level. The yami's eyes were still glued to the item that he had been unable to steal. "Look at me! Not at the ankh!"

He slid the item under his striped shirt. It was only then that Bakura's gaze drifted away from the golden treasure. Ryou watched his yami's expression, and felt his anger start to fade into exhausted sadness.

"That's… that's really all I am to you… isn't it?" Ryou finally asked.

Bakura was taken aback.

"I'm just a tool to get the items, aren't I?" he continued. "That's why I'm useless now, isn't it?"

Bakura didn't move.

"The pharaoh… was right…" Ryou's hair drooped over his eyes. "Wasn't he?"

Again, the yami gave no response. After a few minutes of silence, Ryou stood up.

"If that's what you really want… you can have it…" Ryou finally sighed. He reached into his shirt, and pulled out the ankh again. It glistened in the light that he created for the soul room. He looked directly into Bakura's eyes, and dropped it squarely into his lap. "That way, I can't ever come back…"

Bakura looked at the item in his hands. He could feel the immense power running through it. It was a power he hadn't felt in millennia.

"Goodbye, yami…" Ryou turned his back, and started to walk towards the door.

"Ryou…" Bakura whispered under his breath, glancing back and forth at the millennium item and his hikari.

The boy paused a moment at the door. He didn't want to look back one last time, but he couldn't stop himself. As he glanced over his shoulder, he saw Bakura struggling to move. The spirit couldn't get up, but he was at least trying to turn to the side. Ryou watched as he lifted the item behind his shoulder, and threw it as hard as he could. The ankh skated across the stone floor, coming to a rest by Ryou's feet.

"Ryou… please…" Bakura gasped. "Please don't go…"

The hikari turned around. Had Bakura just given up a millennium item? The pharaoh would never have believed that, even if he were standing here watching right now. He slowly walked back to his yami.

"I… I… I'm sorry…" Yami Bakura let out a long sigh, trying hard to look his lighter half straight in the eyes. Given the position he was in, it was difficult.

Ryou instantly fell to his knees, and wrapped his arms around Bakura. Tears streamed freely from his eyes as he embraced his dark. Yami Bakura had the same reaction.

"It's okay, yami… It's okay…" he whispered. "I'm here."

After a long embrace, Ryou finally looked up. It was the first time he noticed that Bakura was also crying.

"Yami?"

"What's going to happen now?" he finally replied, his voice quivering. Ryou was right all along. His yami was afraid, if not actually terrified.

"We'll figure something out…" Ryou answered, trying to smile. His yami wasn't angry with him… he was only angry with himself.

"But… Ryou… it's hopeless… even in your body… I'm still a worthless cripple…"

"You're not worthless, yami…" Ryou tried to console him with another hug. "It's just… it's just my turn to be strong now. That's all… We really don't even know if the paralysis is permanent. It might not be! For now, you'll just…you'll just have to depend on me…"

Bakura nodded weakly.

"Can you do that?"

"I… I don't know…"

"Why not?" Ryou asked.

"The king of thieves doesn't depend… on anybody…" he trembled.

"That's just because… the king of thieves has never had anyone who cared about him." Ryou whispered back, grabbing Yami Bakura's hand tightly. When his yami shivered more, he tightened his grip. "But there's a first time for everything… isn't there?"

The yami slowly nodded.

"I guess so…"

"We'll just have to get used to this." Ryou leaned back against the staircase, and snuggled next to his yami. Bakura felt the warmth of his hikari radiating against his right side. It had a peculiar calming effect. "One baby step at a time…"

"But what about you?" Bakura finally asked.

"What about me?"

"What happens to you when I'm in control?" Bakura continued. "Does it hurt?"

"Oh…" Ryou thought back. "No. It doesn't hurt. It feels numb, but it doesn't hurt."

"So you loose all feeling too?"

Ryou nodded.

"And it's still numb for a few minutes after you leave. But it goes away." He added. "After a few more minutes… it's like there was never any difference."

"But it can't be good for you, Ryou." Yami Bakura finally sighed. "What if I hurt you somehow? I'm not an idiot… unlike that pharaoh… I've read what you've read in school. I've heard what you've heard. I know how bad this is."

Ryou froze. His yami really was concerned. It wasn't a lie after all. His yami really was trying to protect him by staying in his soul room.

"Ryou… It's hard to breathe when I'm in your body. Some of the muscles that control that must also be paralyzed. The swelling could permanently damage your spinal cord. Then you'd be no better off! The changes in blood pressure could easily damage several parts of your body... not to mention there's the embarrassment of what happens if I'm not able to control your bowels or bladder…" Yami Bakura blushed as he continued to list his concerns, all while Ryou sat amazed at how much his yami had actually remembered from that health class last year. "It's just… it's just too risky for you, Ryou…"

"Yami… if things are just as real to you in here as they are to me, then those problems affect you too. Whether you're in my world or in here."

"But at least… this way… only one of us has to suffer…" Again, Ryou took his yami's hand.

"No." Ryou replied sternly. "I'm not letting you think that way."

Bakura glanced in his direction.

"There are plenty of paraplegics in the world. And yes, there are serious problems, but they manage just as well as Yugi or me or anyone else…" Ryou attempted to console his yami. "You can still live a normal life! Well, as close to normal as a five thousand year-old spirit probably can…"

That last remark made Yami Bakura chuckle a little.

"But… what about you? I can't just go switching in and out of your body… One minute you're paralyzed. The next minute you're up walking around like nothing happened…" Yami Bakura sighed. He used to spend days running around Domino City as his hikari, and rarely did anyone ever notice the difference. "You'll have to…"

"No… You'll have to give me plenty of warning if you want to come out." Ryou smiled. "And for those who already know there are two of us, this probably wouldn't be too big of a shock for them…"

"You're really… not… ashamed… about this? About me?" Yami Bakura finally asked, starting to cry again. Ryou was shocked. Was that what he was really concerned about this whole time?

"You're my yami. I love you." Ryou answered. "Why would I be ashamed of you? I… I stood up to the pharaoh, didn't I?"

That also made Bakura smile.

"And you managed to get the millennium key away from Shadi."

"I have to give it back, you know."

Yami Bakura gave a small pout.

"Who's the yami here?" Ryou smiled brightly, and hugged Bakura again. "Since I stole it… maybe you should give it back!"

"What!"

"Just kidding! Just kidding!" Ryou giggled. "But I have some errands to run in my human form. So I'd better get going. Just… yami?"

"Hm?"

"Please don't close your mindlink when I get out. I don't like it when I can't feel you." Ryou whispered. "It's as though… part of me is paralyzed…"

Yami Bakura nodded, and Ryou disappeared into the light.


	7. Teaching an old tomb robber new tricks

'You can't be serious.' Ryou heard his yami shout from inside the soul room.

"I am serious." Ryou replied aloud, as he opened the door to his apartment, and pushed the wheelchair inside. "And you've been saying that since I left the store an hour ago!"

'That's because you can't be serious…' his yami repeated, for what must have been the ten thousandth time.

"You can't expect me to just have you laying around on my couch whenever you come out of your soul room."

'Why not?'

"Yami, I'm going to have you out of here and dueling by the end of the week!" Ryou announced proudly. "I'm going to prove to you that we can still lead a normal life, even after what happened. But you're going to have to trust me!"

Ryou heard his yami grumble. He twirled the millennium key around his finger before letting it crash onto the ring.

"Don't make me come in there." Ryou teased. "And don't make me force you out here! I know I can do it! Yugi's done it before! And so can I!"

Again, his yami grumbled.

"See?"

Ryou sat down comfortably in the wheelchair, and forced his yami out into his body.

"Hey!" Yami Bakura shouted, shaking the ring in his hands. "I wasn't ready!"

'I wonder if that was the face that Yami Yugi made when Yugi thrust him out to go on a date with Tea!' Ryou smiled from inside his soul room.

Yami Bakura grumbled again. He would have been angry, but there was something about his hikari's hopefulness that kept stopping that. He looked down at the wheelchair, and at his now useless legs. If Ryou believed in him that much, he at least owed his host a little compliance. Not much, he reasoned with himself, but at least a little.

'Now, put your hand on the wheels, and push yourself forward.' Ryou's voice rang through his head. 'One baby step at a time, figuratively speaking, of course.'

He looked at his hands. They were already gripping the wheels.

"Okay… I can do that…" he replied, a little unsure of himself. But fortunately for Yami Bakura, five thousand years inside the ring had not made him weak. And Ryou's upper body was a lot stronger than he assumed it would be. A few minutes later, and he was actually moving back and forth across Ryou's living room.

A few minutes, and a few bumps against the wall later, he had also figured out how to stop.

'That's good, yami!' Ryou cheered, and switched places with him again.

He paused for a minute, staying in the chair. His legs were still numb from his yami's control of the body.

'Are you allright?' Yami Bakura asked from inside his soul room.

"It's just a little numb, yami… give me a few minutes." Ryou replied.

'I told you this was a bad idea.'

"No, I'm fine!" Ryou insisted.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Ryou nearly fell out of the wheelchair. He turned towards the door, watching as the millennium ring started to jangle.

'The pharaoh.' Yami Bakura announced, annoyed. 'Of course…'

"Yami, I can't quite get up yet." Ryou responded.

'What do you want me to do about it?'

"Get the door!" Ryou insisted, and switched places again. Before Yami Bakura could protest, he found himself sitting in the wheelchair again, facing the closed door. The doorbell rang again.

"Bakura. Are you home?"

It was definitely the pharaoh's voice, not his hikari's.

'Get the door, please!' Ryou pleaded. 'I know you can do it!'

"Of course I can do it." Yami Bakura grunted back. "I just don't want to do it."

'Please?'

Yami Bakura grumbled, and rolled his eyes again. Inside his soul room, Ryou was probably pouting cutely.

"Oh, all right. If it will make you happy!" Yami Bakura turned the wheels, and slowly inched towards the door. He hadn't done anything that complicated in the wheelchair yet, and was just as unsure of himself as when he first appeared in it. "Coming!"

He reached out for the doorknob, and unlocked it. Slowly, wheeling backwards, he pulled the door open. Sure enough, the pharaoh was waiting behind the door. He was alone.

"To what do I owe this pleasurable visit?" Yami Bakura sneered at the pharaoh, who walked in without being invited.

"Just checking up on Ryou, tomb robber." Yami Yugi answered, with an equally snide tone, and continued walking. Suddenly, he stopped. "Tomb robber?"

He turned around sharply. His arch nemesis pushed the door closed, and folded his arms across his lap. The pharaoh cocked one eyebrow.

"Yes. It's me."

Yami Yugi studied the sight before him. The yami wasn't just out of his soul room, but he was sitting in Ryou's entryway… In a wheelchair!

"Was the millennium key enough of a bribe to get you out of your pity box?" the pharaoh quickly asserted, clearing the shock out of his head.

"The key had nothing to do with it, nimrod." Yami Bakura replied. "Well, it helped a little… but not how you think it did."

A spasm of pain slid down Bakura's body.

"Now… if you'll excuse me…" he closed his eyes, and Ryou appeared in his place.

"Sorry…" Ryou addressed the pharaoh. "I guess that was a little much for him… It was a little much for myself too… You see… a lot of the symptoms linger for a bit after he gives me back control."

The pharaoh sat down on the couch.

"You mean, he just gave you back control? Freely?"

"Well, I could feel he was having trouble breathing, so we switched back. I just asked him to." Ryou responded. "I haven't started on the medication yet. So we have to be careful."

"Medication?"

"Yeah. To help with some of the symptoms. And to keep the blood flowing freely through the spinal cord. I plan on getting something for it soon." Ryou explained. "We know there are risks involved, but if something does go wrong, it won't be as bad for me that way…"

Yami Yugi was genuinely concerned.

"Ryou, I didn't know Bakura's condition could affect you."

"Well, we do share a body…" Ryou answered. He could hear Bakura chuckling like mad in his soul room. "But it's really not so bad… see?"

He carefully stood up, and took a few steps on his own.

"It doesn't last too long after he goes back inside." Ryou smiled. "And I've already bought a few books with special physical therapy exercises to help strengthen muscles that he can't use when he takes control."

"And for him?"

"And I can teach him the exercises when I go into his soul room with the key! See, pharaoh! We have almost everything figured out."

"Ryou…" Yami Yugi placed his hands on both of the hikari's shoulders, and stared straight into his eyes. "I want you to be honest with me. Did that wicked tomb robber put you up to doing all this?"

"No." Ryou smiled. "Most of it was my idea. He was actually against it."

That wasn't the answer that Yami Yugi was expecting.

"Why was he against it?"

"He didn't want to hurt me." Ryou answered. "You were wrong about my yami, pharaoh."

"So why are you doing this? It's extremely dangerous!"

"Because that's what people do for those they love." Ryou answered abruptly. "Wouldn't Yugi do that for you?"

Yami Yugi froze. He could hear his hikari's voice in his head. Yugi was agreeing with Ryou. Yami Yugi stopped listening after a few minutes.

"Pharaoh?"

"Well, I see you're all right… for now at least." Yami Yugi replied. "My business is done here… I… well… Yugi has other things he needs to be off doing…"

Ryou nodded, and walked the other yami to the door.

"Thanks for coming by." Ryou smiled.

"Of course." Yami Yugi nodded.

"Oh, and pharaoh?"

"Yes?"

"My yami challenges you to a duel. Are you free on Saturday?"

'WHAT?' Yami Bakura shouted in Ryou's head. It made him jerk suddenly.

"Very well." The pharaoh replied. He noticed Ryou's sudden motion. He presumed this was the first time Bakura heard about that challenge. "I will be looking forward to it."

After the door closed, Yami Bakura didn't waste an instant in getting his host's attention.

'Why did you say that!' Yami Bakura shrieked. The noise hurt Ryou's head.

"Because you need to get back to normal!" Ryou replied, smirking.

'Oh, will you stop doing that to me!' Yami Bakura shouted. 'Ever since you got that other item…'

"Don't be afraid, Yami… I know you can do it."

'Who said anything about being afraid!'

"Yami…"

Yami Bakura sighed. His voice quieted.

'You'll be there, right?' he asked timidly. 'What if I want to switch back during the duel? Can we do that?'

"Of course. We'll just take it nice and slow, yami." Ryou smiled. "One baby step at a time."

'Okay…'


	8. Progress, in more ways than one

Over the course of the next week, Ryou focused on getting Bakura ready for the duel, and more importantly, helping him adjust to his new life. He couldn't have been more pleased with how things progressed.

Each time they switched, Bakura stayed in control of the body for longer and longer periods of time. He could maneuver pretty comfortably in the wheelchair, and with Ryou's support, had even attempted to move from the chair to something else. He had yet to actually succeed in doing that part, however. And to be honest, Ryou knew his apartment wasn't exactly the most handicapped-friendly environment.

After about twenty failed attempts at moving from the wheelchair to Ryou's bed, Ryou finally decided that he was tired of picking himself up so that Bakura could try it again.

"We have to take a break, yami…" he gasped, crawling onto the bed. "I don't think my body can take much more of that right now…"

'All right…' Yami Bakura sighed. 'I think I almost had it, though…'

"You probably did." Ryou smiled as he flopped onto the pillow. He had lost count on how many times he fell down. His entire body ached, but he didn't want to tell Bakura. His yami was finally moving around the apartment with confidence. He didn't want to start over at square one.

'You're in pain, aren't you?' he finally asked.

"I guess I can't hide that from you, can I?" Ryou replied, closing his eyes.

'No.'

"It'll pass soon, yami." Ryou insisted. "Are you ready for the duel tomorrow?"

'Of course I'm ready!' he shouted back. 'That pharaoh is going to regret the day he ever questioned me!'

"You'll need that energy tomorrow." Ryou laughed.

He had to admit it to himself. The past few days had been some of the happiest he could recall since his yami emerged from inside the millennium ring. The spirit was talking to him, asking him questions, checking in every few hours just to make sure everything was all right. They laughed together. They engaged in playful banter. His yami needed him. Or more importantly, his yami actually wanted him to be nearby. It was the kind of behavior he dreamed about during Duelist Kingdom. And although he regretted what happened to bring their relationship to this point, he couldn't escape the thoughts that things would be better from now on.

The disabled spirit, on the other hand, was less sure of himself than he ever had been, but somehow, he too felt a little bit happier. He had never depended on anybody in his lifetime. In fact, as a criminal in ancient Egypt, depending on anyone for anything can have lethal results. He never dreamed that leaning on Ryou would make him feel so loved, so wanted, so fulfilled!

It was in those thoughts that both of them drifted into a deep sleep. They only awoke when the sun broke through Ryou's window.

"Are you ready, yami?" Ryou awoke, stretching his arms behind his head. He leapt out of the bed eagerly.

'I think so…' Bakura replied from inside his soul room. 'When is that pharaoh supposed to get here?'

"Oh, he's not coming over here. We're meeting him at the game shop!' Ryou smiled, as he reached for his toothbrush. He spread a long line of toothpaste over the brush, and quickly shoved it in his mouth.

'What!' Bakura gasped. 'Don't tell me… You expect me to wheel myself across town!'

"Of course not!" Ryou laughed, still brushing his teeth. Bakura felt a bit relieved. "The game shop is all the way across town! I'm going to drive there!"

Yami Bakura felt a little silly.

'That would make sense.'

"Although, when we get there…" he spat the toothpaste into the sink. "You're getting out of the car all by yourself."

'I should have seen that one coming.'

"Yugi will be there if you need any help."

'Why can't you do it?' Yami Bakura asked, almost whining.

"Because you need to learn how." Ryou answered. "Remember, one baby step at a time!"

'I'm starting to hate baby steps…' Yami Bakura sighed, but realized there was little he could do about it. 'And one of these days, you're going to realize that you have to teach me how to make that metal horse of yours actually go places.'

"We'll get to that lesson some other time, yami." Ryou cringed. "I want to actually make it to the game shop in one piece."

Yami Bakura held his tongue on that one, and left Ryou to finish getting ready.

By the time Ryou walked outside of the apartment, the weather had changed dramatically. Dark clouds had covered the bright sun that greeted them earlier that morning. And the rain had already started its assault on the sidewalk outside.

"And it looked like such a pretty day…" Ryou mused.

'Perfect weather for a duel against the pharaoh.' Yami Bakura smiled. 'He'll be crying just like that…'

"My, aren't we in a confident mood today!"

'That's what you wanted, right?'

"I want you to be honest with me, yami!" Ryou finally stated.

'In that case…' Yami Bakura paused. He sounded like he was about to say something deep and meaningful. 'Nah, he'll be crying just like that.'

Ryou laughed out loud as he slid into his car, and revved up the engine.

"Oh, yami… you're the best!" Ryou chuckled. "Why didn't you ever talk to me like that before?"

He checked his mirrors, and shifted the car into reverse.

'I guess… well…' the voice inside his head stuttered. 'I guess I never saw a point to it. I never thought you'd actually listen…'

"I just thought you didn't like me."

'Well, I didn't…' he answered honestly. Ryou was momentarily hurt. Bakura noticed the change in emotion, and quickly added, 'But I do now.'

"What changed your mind?" he finally asked, not knowing if he wanted to know the answer.

'When I saw you for the first time in the shadow realm…' Yami Bakura sighed as Ryou pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street. 'I thought I was going to lose you… I thought… you know… that you were about to die…'

"Because I was your host?"

'That's what I told myself… but to tell you the truth…' Yami Bakura began cautiously. He fiddled with his millennium item. 'You're the only one who I ever felt close to. And… I guess I didn't want to lose that… I was just… too afraid to do something about it before then. You know, to get close to someone…'

A tear came to Ryou's eye as he drove on to the Domino City Bridge. Those were words he never thought he'd hear from his yami, not in any circumstances.

'I thought I'd lost the chance to ever get close to you.' He sighed. 'And then when I couldn't walk, I… I figured you'd take the first opportunity to rid yourself of me… that there was nothing I could do about it...'

"But I didn't, yami." Ryou smiled.

'No…' he answered. 'You didn't.'

"The past week has been wonderful." Ryou shimmered with glee. "It's everything I've always wanted."

Inside his soul room, Yami Bakura blushed.

"Even like this…" Ryou continued. "You're everything I've always wanted!"

For a moment, the cold stone room radiated with an intense heat, strong enough to melt whatever ice remained in the yami's heart. But that moment ended quickly.


	9. And then there were Shadows

Bakura jolted forward as he felt Ryou's body tense up. He looked through Ryou's line of sight, as a gigantic monster-like metal horse had lost control on the other side of the bridge. Ryou called them semi trucks.

'Ryou!' he shrieked, his hikari already slamming the break pedal against the floor.

Against the wet pavement, Ryou's car skidded towards the railing. The truck still sliding against its driver's volition, struck the guardrail on the other side of the bridge. Unable to stop, it bounced off and flew back into the center of the bridge.

The next few seconds felt like an eternity to Ryou, as his hands spun the wheel frantically so he could at least recover control of his vehicle.

He only felt the impact for a second, the truck colliding with the driver's side of his small car, forcing it through the railing, and over the edge of the bridge. It spun a few times in the air, before crashing upside down onto the ground where rocks met the edge of the lake.

'Ryou!' Yami Bakura screamed from inside the soul room. The crash had sent him spinning as well. 'Ryou! Can you hear me? Ryou!'

The only answer he received was pain, followed by a long stretch of silence.

'Ryou! Dear Ra… Ryou!' he cried. 'Please… not now… please don't leave me yet…'

There was no response from his hikari, even as his screams echoed throughout his mind.

'Ryou!'

At the game shop, the telephone rang.

"Maybe that's Ryou." Yugi smiled. His yami was sitting in his soul room, contemplating reasons for his opponent's lateness. Yugi frowned at the more distasteful reasons, but left the pharaoh to his own devices.

He picked up the phone. It was Joey.

"Yes? What? Oh no… No. I haven't seen the news… What!" his voice grew more frantic with every exclamation.

'What's going on?' Yami Yugi asked.

"Oh God!" Yugi shouted. "Yes, of course! I'll go right now!"

He hung up the phone.

"Yami, it's Ryou!"

'What's wrong, aibou?'

Yugi grabbed a raincoat from his closet.

"He's been in an accident." Yugi announced. "We need to get down to the hospital."

His yami only nodded, as Yugi dashed out the front door of the game shop, barely having time to close it on his way out.


	10. Crawling in the Dark

Yami Bakura had been screaming his hikari's name for what felt like an eternity. With Ryou unconscious, he couldn't sense what was going on outside. But whatever was happening, he knew it probably wasn't good.

"Ra… why won't he wake up?" Bakura shouted at the darkness around him. "It's not like… Wait… that's it!"

He reached into his shirt, and pulled out a replica of the millennium key. That meant Ryou was still wearing it, and that they still had the power to break through mental barriers. It probably didn't have the power to bring Ryou back to consciousness, but it would at least let Bakura into his hikari's soul room to see if he was badly hurt… or worse…

"But how to…" Bakura fiddled with the key for a moment. "How do I get over there if I can't walk…"

The sound of silence did not comfort him.

"Oh, I don't have time for this!" he shouted, trying to pull himself up. Of course, his attempts failed. He fell forward onto the cold stone floor. "Come on, Bakura… one step at a time… what would Ryou do?"

He took a deep breath and started to crawl. Using his hands, he pulled himself along the floor of his soul room. Although it was slowly at first, soon he was able to grip the edges of the stones a little tighter, and then slide a little faster.

It felt like another eternity before he reached the door to his own soul room. He looked up. The torches lined the hallway with an infernal fervor, reminding him of a tomb he had desecrated five thousand years ago. He looked down the hall. Ryou's soul room wasn't much farther.

Again, he crawled, ignoring the sharp stone edges that tore at his clothes and the scratches forming on the palms of his hands. He was exhausted, but kept pulling himself forward, inching closer and closer to Ryou's soul room.

When he reached the door, he pulled himself up to a sitting position, and fell back against the wooden frame. Again fumbling for the millennium key, he fought to catch his breath.

"I don't have time to breathe… Ryou might not have much time…" he chastised himself, pulling out the key and pressing it against the door.

The door opened instantly, and Bakura fell to his side as his support flew out from behind him.

He quickly looked up.

Bakura had never seen Ryou's soul room before. The walls were mostly dry and barren, and the floor splintered in dozens of places. It looked like some kind of prison, a place to be banished when one's wicked other half locks you up. Somehow, although he couldn't discern where it came from, a bright light still managed to blanket the room. The only decoration came from discarded flower petals, a series of photographs depicting what must have been Ryou's deceased family, and of course, the millennium ring.

The sight of the room pained Bakura. It seemed so sad. Was his life really that empty?

Before he could answer that question, he noticed the thin figure of his hikari slumped in the far corner.

"Ryou!" he gasped, pulling himself over the splintered boards until he could touch the white-haired teen.

The hikari was still conscious in here, but just barely.

"Ryou! Ryou, are you all right?" Bakura shouted, putting his one free arm around the boy's chest. "Oh, Ra… I was so worried…"

"Yami… you came looking… for me…" Ryou whispered slowly.

"Thank Ra you're alive…" Bakura squeezed Ryou gently. Tears streamed freely down his cheek, and onto Ryou's striped shirt. "I don't know what I would have done…"

"I can't move my legs, yami…" he interrupted.

"…what?"

"I… I can't feel them… Are you… in control of my body?"

Bakura looked around.

"No." he answered solemnly. "I was in my soul room the whole time…"

"Then it's really me…" Ryou replied softly. His body trembled a little, and a tear rolled down his soft cheek.

Bakura didn't quite know what to say. He pulled himself up to the wall and sat next to Ryou.

"Come on… don't think like that…"

Ryou looked at him with quivering eyes.

"I… I can't go back out there…" he cried. "I… I can't be paralyzed…"

"Ryou…" his yami whispered back, and let the hikari cry on his right shoulder.

"It's not that bad…"

"Yes it is!"

"But after everything you told me…"

"that… that was different…" Ryou attempted to reason.

"Oh, no you don't…" Bakura interrupted. "You stole a millennium item just to come in here and tell me that I couldn't hide in my soul room! You forced me out into your body so I could learn how to move around without my legs! You wouldn't let me give up on myself! And I am not about to just sit here while you hide…"

Bakura shuffled his weight a little.

"Well, okay, I might sit here… but I'm not going to like it!"

The joke made Ryou laugh.

"Now that's the face I know and love…" he sighed.

"I… I'm afraid, yami…"

"I know." Bakura answered. "But whatever happens… we're going to go through it together. You and me."

"Really?" Ryou asked, barely audible.

"One baby step at a time."

"You're the greatest, yami…" Ryou smiled brightly, and threw himself on top of Bakura. The yami blushed a little, and quietly returned the embrace.


	11. Standing in the Light

Yugi Moto leaned patiently over Ryou's hospital bed. He had been unconscious for the past couple of hours, but the doctors seemed optimistic that he would wake up soon. Ryou's body looked especially fragile to the pharaoh, who had made surprisingly few comments about the tomb robber since the phone call came in. His face had several cuts and scratches, and his left arm was broken. But Yugi knew that was the least of the problems.

When Ryou opened his eyes, he saw Yugi standing over him.

"Ryou!" the other boy smiled. "I heard what happened, and I came as soon as I could! How do you feel?"

"Different…" was the only answer that seemed appropriate, in more ways than one.

'I'm right here beside you.' Bakura whispered through their mindlink. The comment spread a big smile across Ryou's face.

"Have the doctors told you… about…you know…"

Ryou weakly shook his head. However, he didn't really need the doctors to tell him what he already knew.

"The worst injury is located at the ninth thoracic vertebrae. That means you're paralyzed from the waist down."

From the expression on Ryou's face, it was clear that he already knew that.

"When the swelling goes down, they'll be able to tell if the damage is permanent or whether its only temporary, but…"

"It's probably permanent." Ryou sighed.

"You don't know that."

"But… even if it is… that's… okay…"

Yugi was surprised by that remark.

"Ryou?"

"If my yami could do it, so can I." He smiled weakly.

Yugi bent down to hug his friend.

"If you ever need anything, my yami and I are just a phone call away." Yugi reminded. He saw Ryou nod to himself.

"Oh, Yugi… there is one thing Bakura wants to know."

"What?"

"Can we reschedule that duel?" Ryou asked, chuckling a little. "My yami, and I quote, regrets to inform the pharaoh that he can't make it down to the game shop today. But would like to kick his royal butt as soon as he is able."

Ryou waited while Yugi obviously listened to his other half.

"Yami, that's mean." Yugi scolded out loud.

Ryou giggled.

"What'd he say?"

"He said, 'that better be a figure of speech." Yugi replied carefully.

"Hey, you'd better be nice, or I won't give the key back." Ryou scolded back playfully. "I think Bakura kind of likes having it around. He's taken to insisting that I redecorate my soul room."

Yugi smiled, and so did his yami.

'Maybe… maybe Ryou was right about the tomb robber all along…' Yami Yugi whispered slowly. 'He seems to be a lot happier now than I've ever seen him. Even after what just happened.'

Yugi nodded in return.

"That he does." Yugi replied, answering both statements at once. "I've got to run, though. I promised Joey, Tea, and Tristan I'd tell them immediately as soon as I saw how you're doing."

"Thanks for dropping by." Ryou smiled.

"Of course."

Bakura waited until Yugi had left the room before opening his mouth.

'You're really going to keep the key!' he exclaimed excitedly.

"Yami, you're impossible sometimes, you know that." Ryou answered back.

'It was just a simple question.'

"And I am not going to paint my soul room black. I like the light."

'Oh, come on. At least put down some carpeting before you give that key back! I've got splinters up and down my arms from crawling through there!'

"That could be arranged."

'And do mine too!'

"But yami, you'd have to move all your treasures. That would take you an awfully long time."

'Oh, yeah. A long time. Maybe even years!'

"Once a tomb robber, always a tomb robber…" Ryou sighed.

'You make that sound like a bad thing!' Bakura grinned.

Ryou just laughed. Yes, things were going to be different from now on. And better too.

And they would take each day one baby step at a time.


End file.
